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STATE OF THE UNION PREVIEW: White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer -- appearing simultaneously, through the magic of pre-tape, on “Fox News Sunday” and CNN’s “State of the Union” – said Tuesday's speech will present an agenda to restore security for the middle class by expanding opportunity for all. He said the address will show a president intent on putting extra emphasis on executive actions in 2014, with the speech laying out specific, concrete proposals to, among other things, create jobs and strengthen retirement security, education and skills training. The plan is to build in 2014 on the success of President Obama’s use of the pen and phone in 2013.

--PFEIFFER to CNN’s Candy Crowley, re executive action: “It’s unrealistic for any president to expect the Congress of the opposite party to rubber-stamp their agenda, and it’s unrealistic for … Congress to expect that the president will sign their agenda. But let’s find areas that we can work together. Now in some of these areas, like preschool, we’ve made some progress. … You’re going to hear new things. … He is going to work in every way he can, with his pen and his phone, to try to move the ball forward. … He is not going to tell the American people that he’s going to WAIT for Congress.”

--PFEIFFER to Fox’s Chris Wallace, re raising debt ceiling: “[W]e're doing it the exact same way we've done this one before, which is, we were not going to pay them ransom. Nothing has changed in our position. I hope Republicans follow the lead of your next guest, Senator McConnell, who said right afterwards that they would not go down this path again.”

WALLACE: “Well, I'm sure he'll appreciate that endorsement.”

MOOD MUSIC—WashPost graphic, p. A10: Obama approval and assessments of the country’s direction “are on the mend since the fall.”

--WP A10, “Poll reveals little faith in nation’s leaders,” by Dan Balz and Peyton M. Craighill”: Obama’s “current approval stands at 46 percent, up from a low of 42 percent in November. Still, for the first time on the eve of a State of the Union address, more Americans rate his performance negatively than positively, with 50 percent disapproving. His previous low at the start of a new year was 48 percent positive, 48 percent negative in 2012. A year ago, his approval rating was 55 percent.” http://goo.gl/AmVtvr

“THIS WEEK” had 16 guests, live and on tape – sort of a cross between “CBS Sunday Morning” and CNN’s late, lamented “Inside Politics.”

JONATHAN KARL, ABC News White House correspondent and guest host of “This Week,” persuaded Jay Carney to do his first Sunday-show interview as White House press secretary. Karl opened the broadcast by introducing the viral clip of Carney mocking him (“I GET IT, Jon!”): “We go head to head every day in the White House briefing room. Occasionally, it gets a little heated.” From the interview, taped in Carney’s West Wing office:

KARL: “Will [Obamacare] have been worth it if you lose the Senate? I mean, you already lost the House because of the health care law. … Will it have been worth it politically?

CARNEY: “Expanding access to quality and affordable health insurance to millions of Americans, reducing the growth in health care costs … This is not about politics. So the answer is: It is absolutely worth it, no matter what happens politically. … I just disagree that Republicans are going to have a winning issue on this, if they decide to run on it, because they've got to explain what repeal means.”

REALITY CHECK – “The war on inequality … may take awhile,” by POLITCO’s David Nather: “It would require a gigantic response, cutting across a broad swath of issues, everything from education and tax policy to wages, job skills and even the quality of the jobs themselves. And it comes at a time when Washington is in no mood for a gigantic response to anything. … When Obama and liberal economists talk about [inequality], they usually define it as a shrinking middle class and a growing gap between the rich and everyone else. …

“But [Keith Hennessey, a former economic adviser to President George W. Bush] says there could be five different sets of solutions, depending on whether Obama and the Democrats want to reduce inequality by taxing the rich, reducing the gap between the rich and the middle class, improving incomes for the middle class, giving more assistance to the poor, or helping the poor improve their lives.” http://goo.gl/5YsoLL

SEN. TED CRUZ, to Bob Schieffer on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” on whether he could conceive of shutting down the government again: “I didn't threaten to shut down the government the last time. I don't think we should ever shut down the government. I repeatedly voted … to fund the federal government. … [W]hy is it hard to understand that [Democrats] forced a shutdown when they think it benefits them politically?” …

SCHIEFFER: “Will you agree to raise the debt ceiling, or will you demand something in return?”

CRUZ: “Look, of course, we should do something. We shouldn't just write a blank check.”

** A message from the National Retail Federation: Digital payments and receipts are a game-changer for retail, according to Jack Dorsey, Founder of Twitter and Square. At Retail’s BIG Show last week, Dorsey explained his philosophy on technology and the retail revitalization happening now across America. Video: http://bit.ly/1iWX7bL #nrf14 **

BLAKE LANIER GOTTESMAN -- a principal at Berkshire Partners in Boston, and former deputy chief of staff and personal aide to President George W. Bush – married Casey Trudene Knight, a reconstructive plastic surgeon, at 6:30 last evening at the Art Gallery of Ontario, in Toronto. The wedding was officiated by Josh Bolten, former Bush chief of staff.

FIRST LOOK – “The Strategy Group Company statement on historic gathering at Auschwitz-Birkenau on International Holocaust Remembrance Day”: “January 27 … marks the 69th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Allied troops in 1945. On January 27th, 60 members of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), led by the Speaker of the Knesset, Mr. Yuli Edelstein will convene an historic session on the grounds of Auschwitz-Birkenau. … ‘We are grateful to the work of so many in keeping the memory of the horrific events of the Holcaust,’ said Rex Elsass CEO of The Strategy Group Company. … The Strategy Group Company will be providing special commemorative ties for the occasion. The ties will be worn by the delegation of Knesset members attending an historic gathering.”

REDFORD, on Obama: “Well first of all, I think he's a good human being – that, I think, is clear. He's a humanitarian at heart, and that's good. I guess I put him in the same situation as Rahm Emanuel: He's trying to manage an extremely difficult situation. I mean, it's almost too much for one person. … When you have one half whose only motive is to destroy the motives of the president of the United States, then you have a diseased system. And I don't think that's his fault. I think it just makes his job tougher.”

STELTER: “[W]hat you think of the media's coverage of climate change? Do you feel like it's the kind of topic where they've failed, in general, to educate the public?”

REDFORD: “I do. I think it’s now finally dawning on people that it is an issue, because it’s now in our backyard. It’s not something that’s out there or ‘tomorrow.’ It’s here, and it’s now, it’s happening, it’s affecting water -- Look at the weather patterns. They’re so drastic. You’d have to be really the most narrow-minded person in the world to still deny climate change. But it’s here, and it’s already showing evidence of destruction. The real question is: Is it too late? And because I like to be optimistic about it, I like to think people -- if they really feel strongly about the environment, they would realize it’s almost too late; there’s something we can do.

“And I think the media has fallen short in large — I think certain parts of the media have been good — but I think in total, the media has missed the bet by not getting on board earlier, to tell the stories of the clear evidence already in place about the dangers we’re now facing. I think they missed the bet on that, they’re coming in late to the game.”

MEDIAWATCH – N.Y. Times Sunday Review, p. 13, Public Editor Margaret Sullivan, “‘Just the Facts, Ma’am’ No More: A front page that is short on hard news troubles some readers”: “IT’S a Monday morning in mid-January. Your print edition of The Times is at hand … You scan it for news. But, for the most part, you scan in vain. Of the six front-page articles on Jan. 13, only one can be described as hard news: an article from Paris about negotiators putting the last touches on a deal to freeze Iran’s nuclear program. … In preparation for this column, I went through the last few weeks of front pages. … In general, I found an emphasis on interpretive and enterprise journalism. I also found many examples of interesting and well-written articles with little news value. I asked the managing editor, Dean Baquet, who often runs the afternoon news meeting where front-page articles are chosen, to explain.

“‘There’s no question that there’s less traditional news on the front than there used to be,’ he said. One major reason, he said, is that readers have constant access to breaking news. ‘We have to ask ourselves what’s new and surprising and important to people — what we can offer that no one else can. So we put pressure on ourselves to put it in perspective or say what it means or give the back story.’ For Mr. Baquet, the ideal front page would include three or four ‘strong news stories that nobody else has, an investigative story, and a couple of really good reads’ — for example, a sports or culture story, or an especially compelling obituary. … In recent weeks, readers have complained to me about what they saw as opinion creeping into news stories on Iran, Ukraine, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey. …

“In my view, The Times’s most prominently displayed stories sometimes go too far in the direction of interpretation, analysis and elaborate writing. The reasonable reader .. might well wish that the important nugget of news would appear in the second paragraph instead of the seventh. That reader (as opposed to a journalist who is plugged in to changing events all day long) may prefer more of the original news and less of a ‘second day’ approach. In some cases, a breaking news article that appeared on the website all day long, frequently updated, never even makes it into the Times archive, pushed aside by the more interpretive article that appears in print the next day but where the news is obscured.” http://goo.gl/6kMHI4

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Jim Papa, Global Strategy Group senior vice president and managing director, who is 4-0 today, was feted last night by family and friends at Society Fair in Old Town Alexandria, at a big birthday party planned for months by his wife Katie Papa. SPOTTED: Sean Sweeney, Elizabeth Stanley, Brad Katz, Kate Winkler, Charles Halloran, Shelley Stoneman. (hat tips: Bill Burton, Shira Levy)

DESSERT – “‘Whiplash’ wins audience, jury awards at Sundance,” by AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen in Park City: “The dramatic story of a drummer who pursues excellence at all costs won top honors at the Sundance Film Festival … The musical drama by writer-director Damien Chazelle opened the independent film showcase last week and rode a wave of positive buzz throughout the 10-day event. Chazelle made his Sundance debut last year with a short version of ‘Whiplash’ intended to gain financial support for the feature-length film. The feature stars 26-year-old Miles Teller as an aspiring jazz drummer and veteran actor J.K. Simmons as his unforgiving instructor. …

“The documentary ‘Rich Hill,’ a coming-of-age story about the inhabitants of a tiny town in Missouri, won the jury award for U.S. documentary. The American documentary about music's healing effects on dementia, ‘Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory,’ won the audience award. … The 30th Sundance Film Festival wraps on Sunday.” List of winnershttp://goo.gl/8Dcy66

**A message from the National Retail Federation: Retailers are innovating at the speed of light when it comes to how customers interact with brands through mobile, implementing quick and easy digital payments and receipts and reinventing the physical storefront to keep up with changing consumer demands. These topics and more were key conversation drivers at Retail’s BIG Show last week, as NRF welcomed more than 30,000 industry professional to New York City for an educational and networking experience you can’t find anywhere else. Want to find out how these innovations impact public policy? Here’s what you need to know. http://retailmeansjobs.com Follow the conversation with #nrf14. **